ROCKY HILL – Connecticut’s prosecutors received detailed guidance on the state’s expanded Trust Act during the Division of Criminal Justice’s annual training for Deputy Assistant State’s Attorneys, held in December in the Kevin T. Kane Training Center at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney.
The Trust Act presentation, led by Executive Assistant State’s Attorney Kathryn W. Bare, outlined recent changes to how state and local agencies interact with federal immigration authorities and included discussion about the implementation of new legal requirements and the navigation of evolving federal-state dynamics, all while maintaining public trust. Training on the expanded provisions of the Trust Act was offered to all Division of Criminal Justice personnel to ensure full understanding and compliance.
Executive Assistant State’s Attorney Bare, who also serves as the Division’s Director of Policy Development, said the Trust Act, originally enacted in 2013 and amended in 2019, was strengthened in 2025 to more clearly define how and when state and local agencies may assist the federal government in performing the exclusively federal function of enforcing immigration laws.
Executive Assistant State’s Attorney Kathryn W. Bare
As Executive Assistant State’s Attorney Bare’s Power Point presentation emphasized, “civil detainer requests are just that - requests."
The federal government does not have a right to insist on compliance with a civil detainer request, the presentation stated, drawing a distinction between administrative warrants signed by immigration officials and judicial warrants signed by a judge. Only the latter triggers mandatory compliance in most circumstances.
Effective October 1, 2025, the Trust Act now applies to all Division of Criminal Justice staff, aligning them with Department of Correction officials, municipal and state police, judicial marshals, probation officers, Board of Pardons and Paroles staff, and others already covered under the Act. Under the statute and accompanying policy guidance, state officers may not arrest or detain someone solely on the basis of a civil detainer or an administrative warrant that is not signed by a judge. They also may not expend state resources to assist ICE, such as providing non‑public release times or addresses, except as allowed by the law, according to Executive Assistant State’s Attorney Bare’s Power Point presentation.
Cooperation is permitted if there is a judicial warrant, a qualifying conviction for specified serious offenses (including Class A or B felonies, certain sexual assault and child endangerment offenses and violations of protective orders), or the suspect is identified as a possible match in the federal Terrorist Screening Database.
Deputy Chief State’s Attorney John J. Russotto
Agencies are required, under Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Act, to treat records related to ICE access as public, while safeguarding confidential information unless disclosure is consented to, legally required, or part of a terrorism investigation, according to the Trust Act presentation.
Any request from ICE to be notified of someone’s release date and time must be routed to an agency head, including the State’s Attorney, Chief State’s Attorney, or designee, for review before any response.
“Prosecutors live in the details,” Bare noted in the training materials, “and the details here are procedural safeguards provided by the Trust Act .” Those safeguards include contemporaneously notifying the individual and their attorney whenever the agency decides to comply with a detainer and documenting the basis for compliance in writing.
Executive Assistant State’s Attorney Bare’s training also discussed further changes to the Trust Act which restrict civil immigration arrests on courthouse grounds and ban face coverings by law enforcement inside courthouses absent medical necessity and judicial authorization. Judicial marshals must review documentation before any civil arrest is made on courthouse grounds, and violations can be treated as contempt of court or lead to civil liability.
The Judicial Branch’s policy, issued by Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court Raheem L. Mullins, and effective September 16, 2025, also discussed at the training, aligns closely and calls for no arrests inside public courthouse areas without a judicial warrant, and no masks for law enforcement carrying out enforcement duties in those spaces, with limited exceptions, Executive Assistant State’s Attorney Bare said.
“No person shall be subject to arrest while inside the public areas of a courthouse except pursuant to a judicial warrant,” the Judicial Branch policy states.
Executive Assistant State’s Attorney Bare noted that Governor Ned Lamont’s statewide guidance, circulated in January 2025, reinforces the above concepts, instructing agencies to verify warrants, limit ICE access to non‑public areas without a judicial warrant, and route all requests through counsel.
In addition to Executive Assistant State’s Attorney Bare’s Trust Act Training, the six days of training over two weeks for the Deputy Assistant State’s Attorneys included visits to the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory and courtrooms, and lectures about such topics that ranged from scientific evidence to constitutional law.
Middlesex Judicial District State’s Attorney Michael A. Gailor
The training began on December 2 at the state’s forensics lab, where the Deputy Assistant State’s Attorneys took a tour and heard presentations on the latest advances in evidence gathering. Back at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney in Rocky Hill, Chief State’s Attorney Patrick J. Griffin and Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Lisa M. D’Angelo led a session on statements and identifications, underscoring the critical role of accuracy in witness testimony.
The focus of the training then shifted to witness protection and juvenile law. Witness Protection Coordinator Tracey Kelly began the second day of training discussing the work of the Division’s witness protection unit. She was followed by Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Vincent Duva, who discussed the complexities of juvenile cases. The morning concluded with Deputy Chief State’s Attorney John J. Russotto guiding prosecutors through the ethical dimensions of charging decisions and the Division’s Early Screening and Intervention program before Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Tamberlyn Chapman closed the day with insights on the prosecution of environmental and housing cases.
On December 5, Middlesex Judicial District State’s Attorney Michael A. Gailor and New London Judicial District State’s Attorney Paul J. Narducci discussed police search and seizure with the Deputy Assistant State’s Attorneys before Executive Assistant State’s Attorney Bare gave her Trust Act presentation and instruction on prosecutorial ethics.
On December 9, the training venue shifted to the Police Officer Standards and Training Council in Meriden, where Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Timothy F. Costello and Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Timothy J. Sugrue and Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Nancy L. Chupak, the Division’s Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor, tackled the challenges of proving DUI cases under state law, while Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Angela Macchiarulo provided an overview of civil litigation and habeas matters. Ansonia/Milford Judicial District State’s Attorney Margaret E. Kelley, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Laura DeLeo and Assistant State’s Attorney Alanna Paul discussed prosecuting domestic violence cases.
On December 11 and 12, the training included mock court hearings at U.S. District Court in New Haven and visits to state correctional facilities.
New London Judicial District State’s Attorney Paul J. Narducci